²¹ Thus says the Lord: ^(A)“Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

¹⁵ In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses ^(A)on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, ^(B)which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. ¹⁶ Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? ^18 (C)Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹ So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it ^(D)began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. ^(E)Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of ^[a]wares ^[b]lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

²¹ Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night ^[c]around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.

Penalty for Violating the Sabbath^(A)

³² Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, ^(B)they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³ And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴ They put him ^(C)under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.

³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(D)“The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall ^(E)stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And ^(A)that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; ^(B)it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

¹¹ He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

¹² Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

¹⁶ Take heed to yourselves, ^(A)lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and ^(B)serve other gods and worship them,

²³ Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, ^(A)and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.

Beware of Idolatry

^15 (A)“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no ^(B)form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,

⁹ Only take heed to yourself, and diligently ^(A)keep yourself, lest you ^(B)forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And ^(C)teach them to your children and your grandchildren,

¹⁵ looking carefully lest anyone ^(A)fall short of the grace of God; lest any ^(B)root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; ¹⁶ lest there be any ^(C)fornicator or ^[a]profane person like Esau, ^(D)who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.